The Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream has blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and marketers for the severe scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) during the yuletide. The Chairman Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Sen. Kabiru Marafa stated this on Monday in Gusau, Zamfara state during an official assignment in the state.
“I have directed all members of this committee to go back to their constituencies to investigate the problem at the grassroots so that we take appropriate measures to address the scarcity.
“We visited NNPC zonal depot in Gusau to find out the quantity of fuel supplied to the depot and we noticed short supply of the commodity. We are going to present our findings to the Senate. It is very disturbing to see the suffering faced by people due to fuel scarcity in the country. We questioned the NNPC over this issue because the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, said they had doubled the quantity of daily supplies of the product, but it is not available to the public.
“Another unfortunate thing is the attitude of our filling stations’ owners, who sell this commodity to the public. They are involved in one or two malpractices. In fact, out of the filling stations we visited, only two have complied with the government directives in this regard.”
Relatedly, the Chairman of Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Mathew Urhogide says Nigerians should blame the President and Marketers for the lingering fuel crisis in the country, since the President doubles as the Minister of Petroleum Resources. In an interview Vanguard, he said.
“Let me ask you, all these people working in NNPC, don’t they report to the President? The Minister of Petroleum is the President and the Minister of State is another person. So, for the ministry, they have two ministers. So, if things are not working in the Ministry, hold the President and the Minister of State responsible.
“Are we afraid to say this? It depends on Nigerians, if they are not doing well, vote them out; we should continue to do this until we get to near perfection. Fuel scarcity has become perennial in our country, it is also an annual ritual in our lives. So, we are living with it. Why will I become comfortable when Nigerians are suffering? NNPC and IPMAN are two birds that flock together; how do you want me to know who is saying the truth?
“There was a problem between the Minister of State for Petroleum Affairs and the GMD of NNPC sometimes ago and they made claims and counter-claims and they went to the Villa and were settled. Today, do you know what transpired between them? So, if IPMAN is claiming that they have paid money to the NNPC and their tanks are empty and the NNPC is saying that they are owing them and you are hearing this back and front accusations, which one do you want me to believe? The story tells me that the system is not working.
“Leadership is still as faulty as it has always been in this country, so nobody should say that because of Mr A or Mr B, this country is in a better shape. Did the country not experience fuel scarcity during Obasanjo’s time? Did the country not experience fuel scarcity in former President Umaru Yar’ Adua’s time? But it is on record that it was only Yar’ Adua, who for the period he was the President, did not increase the price of fuel; rather, there was a decrease in fuel pump price.
“But ever since, we had the problem of fuel scarcity in ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s time and even now. So, who is going to be blamed, who but the system? So, NNPC that existed in Obasanjo’s time is still the same NNPC that exists now. We have expected that two years into Buhari’s presidency, the story would have changed, but it is the same narrative. Are Nigerians not suffering?”
